


Sympathy Pains

by FalonomAfterMidnight



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Cramps, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Menstruation, Periods, Short One Shot, Sickfic, Storytelling, Supportive Steven Universe, Television Watching, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2020-03-29 22:19:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19029076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FalonomAfterMidnight/pseuds/FalonomAfterMidnight
Summary: Steven eases Connie's period pain.





	Sympathy Pains

"Urrrghhh..." Connie moaned softly at the dull ache in her lower belly as she got ready to head out one Saturday morning.

Such bad luck! Her time of the month had arrived on the same day she had a TV show-watching date planned with Steven! And the first day was usually the worst... Should she cancel their meeting and rest at home? No, that was impossible now; nobody liked exciting plans for a fun day to be abruptly dropped at literally the last minute.

To prevent any possible embarrassing accidents while she was over at his place, she grabbed her backpack, made sure that it contained pads, then stuffed in some more pads just in case the stock in her bag would need to be replenished later.

A few minutes later, she saw her ride through the window, and she excitedly left her house through her front door with her backpack. Steven picked her up from her house with Lion, and they made their way off.

"Man, who would've guessed that they would've actually made a _Dogcopter_ TV SHOW?" Steven remarked on the way back to the Beach House.

"I know, right?" added Connie with a laugh.

Yes, the _Dogcopter_ book and film series--one of Connie's most favorite things ever--was now also an animated series on Netflix. Yeah, go figure. Each episode was 11 minutes a pop, meaning that they were relatively easy to digest. The critics were skeptical at this adaptation at first, but positive reviews from fans soon came pouring out. Connie had been eagerly waiting for the day that it would finally be released to the public.

They arrived at Steven's home, and parked Lion outside. The two went inside, and Connie sat down in front of his TV, made herself comfortable, and turned on Netflix while a humming Steven went to the kitchen to go get the snacks.

Connie tried hard not to think about the more minor contractions starting up again at this poor timing, but this wasn't something that anyone could easily ignore. _No, not now..._

Steven, still humming, came back to his room with the items in his hands, sat down next to the girl, and placed the various sweet and savory snacks right in front of them on the floor. "Okay, now we're all set!" he grinned.

Connie nodded with the best smile she could put on. "Here we go!" She grabbed the remote, selected the first episode without hesitation, and pressed 'play'.

A few minutes in, and they were already hooked! The show was about every bit as great as the audience said! This cartoon was just ideal for a binge-watching session!

But Steven couldn't help but notice Connie occasionally looking down with a worried expression on her face, and with her hands covering her belly. "Ooh, is it that time of the month...?" he said in a sympathetic tone after Episode 1 finished.

Connie looked over at him in shock, then hung her head and blushed. She hadn't told him any of this beforehand because her period literally came just when she woke up this morning. "...Yeah. Sorry about this..." she mumbled.

 _Whoops, I probably shouldn't have brought that up..._ "Hey, it's no big deal!" Steven reassured her. "How about some ice cream?" he suggested. (After all, ice cream was one of his favorite comfort foods.)

Connie shook her head. "Uh, thanks, Steven, but food is the _last_ thing I need right now." _And especially NOT something so cold like ice cream..._

"Oh, okay, sorry."

They decided to change the uncomfortable subject by returning their focus back to the awesome, the amazing _Dogcopter: The Series_.

A few more episodes later though, the level of pain in the poor girl was rising. Eventually, when the credits were rolling for the latest episode, Connie let out a pained inhale-hiss and cringed as she clutched her belly. She tried to not make it so noticeable, but she couldn't help it.

Steven put down his popcorn and looked over at his distressed girlfriend all concerned. Too bad there wasn't really much he could do to help her out right now, even if he really wanted to... or was there? Suddenly, a memory that was thought to have been repressed popped right back into his head. He paused their show with the remote, then asked, "Hey, Connie?"

Connie looked up at him. "Huh?"

In spite of being unsure of how appropriate the wording sounded in his head, Steven said it anyway. "I... I think I know that feels."

Connie's eyes shot open in surprise. "What? You do?" she asked the boy.

"Well, sort of." Steven cleared his throat to tell his tale. "You remember the Cluster, right?"

"You mean that giant arm that came out of the Earth's center to stop the Diamonds' ships? Yeah..." nodded Connie.

"The funny thing is, it didn't even start out like that." began Steven. "A long time ago, the Gems and I made a drill at where the barn used to be to prevent a super geo-weapon from emerging and destroying the world. When me and Peridot went down the Earth with our drill, I saw how pained the Cluster was, and how the Gem shards all had a desire to be whole again. When the drills tried to destroy them, I could actually _feel_ their pain--in my gem." Steven motioned to his pink diamond in his navel.

"Was it that bad?" asked Connie.

Steven inhaled. "Hoo, you have no idea. To say that it hurt a _lot_ would be an understatement; I was sweating and shaking and feeling sick and everything--it got so bad that I actually passed out for bit." He paused to chuckle a little. "But then again, if I hadn't, I never would've been able to actually talk things out with the Cluster in a classic psychic ghost type situation."

At first, Connie was near-speechless. "Wow... huh, I think what you described could actually be a little closer to labor pains." Her mother was a doctor, so Connie definitely knew about some rather interesting trivia.

Steven's eyes widened. "Really? Are you talking about those pains for when you're actually giving birth?" he questioned.

"Yeah. _Those_ contractions are at least ten times worse than period cramps." she said.

Steven cringed at the mere image. "Yeesh... Uh, but still, a 1/10th of what I felt still looks awfully painful." he mentioned.

"I'll say..." Connie said with a tiny bitter laugh.

"I really should've asked earlier: how _do_ you get rid of those cramps faster?" he wondered.

"Oh, well, I like to use a hot water bottle or a heating pad." said Connie. "It helps a lot."

"Hmm..." Steven thought about it for a little bit, and then it came to him like a lightbulb going off in his head. "Oh, yeah! I think we have something like a heating pad somewhere in the house. Lemme go find it..." Steven went right downstairs and began searching through the cupboards and drawers in his kitchen. He eventually found what he was looking for, put it in the microwave for a good full minute, took it right out when it was done, went back upstairs, and handed the hot heating pad right to Connie. "Here ya go!"

Connie felt so much better at not just how nice the heat felt against her lower belly, but also because of how caring and kind her boyfriend was to her. "Thank you so, so much, Steven..."

Steven grinned at the girl cheering up. "No problem! You can always count on me!"

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
